Thai riot police used a cheap Chinese tear gas that contained an explosive powerful enough to rip craters in the ground to disperse crowds of anti-government protesters last week, an investigator said.
The investigation by forensics experts and a human rights commission could explain why several protesters had limbs and feet blown off and three died in clashes last week with police, who insist they only fired tear gas into the crowd.
Police used tear gas to clear the streets after protesters attempted to blockade parliament to keep Thai Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat from delivering a policy statement. The ensuing clashes injured 478 people — mostly protesters — including 85 who were hospitalized, medical authorities said.
Investigators found that police used three types of tear gas — from China, the US and Spain — but “relied heavily on tear gas made in China,” Pornthip Rojanasunand, director of the Central Institute of Forensic Science, said on Monday.
Pornthip said an experiment showed that the Chinese gas contained high levels of RDX — a chemical commonly used to make bombs and not a standard component of tear gas intended for crowd control.
Pornthip’s institute conducted the investigation as part of a probe into the clashes by the National Human Rights Commission.
Tests at a military field over the weekend found that a Chinese-made tear gas canister fired from a shotgun left a crater 8cm wide and 3cm deep, she said, noting that it also “left a hole in a metal pipe.”
One of the three people killed in last Tuesday’s clashes was a 28-year-old woman who had a wound on her chest that was “roughly the same size” as a Chinese-made tear gas canister, Pornthip said.
She said it was too soon to tell if the Chinese tear gas caused the woman’s death but it was “potentially highly damaging” and could “cause death and injuries.”
“The police and military generally use American [tear gas], but it’s expensive — much more expensive,” Pornthip said. “But comparatively, the American [tear gas] is safer.”
The protest alliance said it planned a large demonstration today outside police headquarters to protest alleged police brutality in the clashes.
The protesters regard Somchai as a proxy of deposed prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, the telecommunications billionaire who was ousted by a 2006 military coup for alleged corruption and misuse of power.
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